1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic money system for settling an account by moving electronic money having the same value as that of currency, and more particularly to an electronic money storing apparatus for storing cards having electronic money stored therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic money system which exhibits high security against forgery and is capable of conducting an off-line transaction has been recently developed. The electronic money system corresponds to a system in which data of electronic money (electronic having the same value as that of currency) is present on an IC chip in an IC (Integrated Circuit) card (also referred to as an electronic money card) and the electronic money is moved between electronic money cards to settle the accounts. Such system is disclosed in JP-A-6-19945.
In such system, a terminal device for receiving and handling an electronic money card which a general user possesses, and a partner device for receiving the electronic money data and paying it which corresponds to an auto-teller terminal device in a financial organization or a cash storing box such as a cash register in a retail store system are required. Further, since the transaction is made between IC cards in this system, the IC card of the financial organization or the retail store system as well as the IC card of the user are occupied during the transaction process of the electronic money data. Accordingly, in order to conduct the transactions with a plurality of users concurrently, it is necessary that the financial organization or the retail store system possess and control a plurality of IC cards, and this has been attained by providing a plurality of PCs (Personal Computers) connected to an ICRW (IC Reader/Writer) for reading and writing the IC card.